New York Times: Energy and Stealth of G.O.P. Groups Undid a Sure Bet
The e-mail message from a Massachusetts supporter to one of the leaders of the Tea Party movement arrived in early December. The state was holding a special election to fill the seat held by Senator Edward M. Kennedy, it said, and conditions were ripe for a conservative ambush: an Election Day in the dead of winter with the turnout certain to be low.

Washington Times: China removed as top priority for spies
The White House National Security Council recently directed U.S. spy agencies to lower the priority placed on intelligence collection for China, amid opposition to the policy change from senior intelligence leaders who feared it would hamper efforts to obtain secrets about Beijing's military and its cyber-attacks.

Foreign Policy: Pentagon wins turf war with State over military aid
The Pentagon has won a major internal battle over control of foreign assistance funding, delaying the Obama administration's pledge to demilitarize foreign policy, multiple sources tell The Cable. DOD and State have been fighting vigorously over who would be in charge of large swaths of the foreign assistance budget, billions of dollars in total that are used to aid and work with governments all over the world.

CNN: Palin to campaign for McCain in March
As Sen. John McCain readies for a potential primary challenge from the right this fall, the Arizona Republican is playing his trump card. Sarah Palin, McCain's former running mate and perhaps the most powerful brand in Republican politics, will stump for McCain in Arizona on March 26 and 27, a Palin adviser told CNN.

Los Angeles Times: Costly errors in probe of failed jetliner blast detailed
In a tacit admission that the U.S. squandered a chance to gain valuable information after the failed Christmas Day airliner bombing, the nation's intelligence director testified Wednesday that authorities had been too quick to read the suspect his Miranda rights and grant him access to an attorney.

BBC News: Iran 'formally rejects nuclear fuel deal'
Iran has told the International Atomic Energy Agency it does not accept the terms of a deal to ease concerns about its nuclear programme, diplomats say. For months, the Iranian government has criticised the offer to ship low-enriched uranium abroad in return for fuel, but never responded formally.

CNN: UK expands watch list, halts Yemen flights
Britain is expanding its security watch list and has suspended all direct flights to Yemen as part of a series of new counterterrorism measures, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced Wednesday.

Der Spiegel: UN Climate Experts Under Fire for Glacier Melt Error
In its 2007 report on climate change, the United Nations included a prediction that the Himalayan glaciers had a high probability of melting by 2035 - a forecast that came as an unpleasant surprise for many. But the forecast is wrong and the Nobel Prize-winning UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change is be criticized heavily for its methods.

CNNMoney: YouTube to launch rental service
Google Inc.'s YouTube said Wednesday it plans to introduce a movie rental service on Friday. The video-sharing site is partnering with the Sundance Film Festival to release five films, which users will be able to rent from YouTube on Friday, the company wrote in its blog.

Wall Street Journal: Goldman Subprime Fallout Hits Home in South Carolina
The downsized ambitions and desperate job hunting that grip some former Goldman employees here are a sharp contrast to the company's expected announcement Thursday of record-high profits for 2009. That means big bonuses for most traders, investment bankers and other workers at Goldman, traditionally among the highest-paid on Wall Street.